Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Ocean Science

Publication Date

1-1-2010

First Page

413

Last Page

421

Issue Number

1

Volume Number

6

Abstract/ Summary

Mesoscale iron enrichment experiments have revealed that additional iron affects the phytoplankton productivity and carbon cycle. However, the role of initial size of fertilized patch in determining the patch evolution is poorly quantified due to the limited observational capability and complex of physical processes. Using a three-dimensional ocean circulation model, we simulated different sizes of inert tracer patches that were only regulated by physical circulation and diffusion. Model results showed that during the first few days since release of inert tracer, the calculated dilution rate was found to be a linear function with time, which was sensitive to the initial patch size with steeper slope for smaller size patch. After the initial phase of rapid decay, the relationship between dilution rate and time became an exponential function, which was also size dependent. Therefore, larger initial size patches can usually last longer and ultimately affect biogeochemical processes much stronger than smaller patches.

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Xiu P, Chai F. Modeling the Effects of Size on Patch Dynamics of an Inert Tracer. Ocean Science. 2010;6(1): 413-421.

Version

publisher's version of the published document

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

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